Cards you didn’t realize were as cool as they are!!!
 

I’ll go first. I never realized this was Nap Lajoie tagging Collins.. I always figured it was Murphy. Two of the greatest second basemen of all time!

http://www.sterlingsportsauctions.co...5954a_med.jpeg

Behind every Blondy lurches a base runner in full tilt
 

I've known for years that almost all Diamond Stars are awesome, but just noticed recently the player bookin' it behind Ryan...now that is some cool cartoony Art Deco action for you.

Brian

I love the Diamond Star issue also. Incredible artwork that rivals '33 Goudey IMO. Does anyone know why Gehrig wasn’t featured in the ‘35 Diamond Star set? I’ve always wondered why one of the biggest studs of that time wasn’t included.

Coolest card of all time IMO.

The Reese 53 Bowman Color is one of my favorite all time cards, hands down.

One of the coolest cards in the hobby, in my opinion as well. It doesn't currently fit the structure of my HoF project, but eventually it will be added to my collection.

Pretty sure the 1934 Goudey set answers your question -- looks like he had an exclusive deal with them.

Thanks to the OBC guys for this one. They knew I liked it and sent it to me. It doesn't get better than that.

http://luckeycards.com/pbowman1953reese.jpg

Has it ever been determined who the guy on the ground is??

Is it safe to assume the photo was taken in spring training in Florida?

Pee Wee's 52 Berk Ross is also an awesome pose, terrible Berk Ross print quality, but the pose is great.

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.g...=0&w=300&h=300

Doesn't hurt that I'm a Brooklyn Dodgers guy.

SO just to reiterate, let's keep this thread about cards that had something about them that you never knew, if you catch my drift. There's a million other threads where we can talk about the cards we love. :D

Sorry, with the Berk Ross it was more of a situation where I didn't think a lot of people knew about the card in general.

I have posted this before but my favorite card discovery was the fact that Reggie Smith's Rookie Card number (314) is the same as his career Home Run total. Maybe still not exactly what you had in mind but it was definitely a discovery of a "cool" nature.

Ah. Makes perfect sense now that you mention it.

They guy hitting the other guy in the head with a bat behind Matty!!:D

Apologies for my bad photo skills (I can shoot another picture if anyone wants it) ... but here's a "signed" photo of the Berk Ross Reese.

A few years ago it was neat to discover (maybe I wasn't the first) that the Hal Chase cards in the 1913 National Game and 1913 Tom Barker are different poses, with the National Game set designating him as a New York Yankee and depicting him in a Yankee uniform, while the Tom Barker designates him as a member of the Chicago White Sox and shows him in a White Sox uniform.

These two Chase cards definitively point to the fact that the National Game set was issued before the Tom Barker in 1913, since Hal Chase was traded from the Yankees to the White Sox on June 1st, 1913. Both the Tom Barker and National Game cards have a patent date on the back of the card of March 25, 1913. Thus the National Game set was likely first issued in spring of 1913, while the Tom Barker set had to have been issued late summer 1913 at the earliest.

Why is this cool? For rookie collectors who are persnickety, Grover Alexander's National Game card can be identified as being his first card issued, with his Tom Barker a close second.

Brian (Note: the tiny Alexander is not my minty card)

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...20WaJo%201.jpg

Is that the Capitol in the background?

Angels bat boy Leonard Garcia on an Aurelio Rodriguez card. From humdrum to funny in one switcharoo.

http://stuffnobodycaresabout.com/wp-...Error-card.jpg

Poor conditioned card of course, but apparently this is a rare color-combination for this E98 Walsh. I had no idea about any of that when I purchased it.

At first, I thought there were just a few random stamped letters and residue on the back of this M116 Speaker... until I realized that it was actually a variation of the pointing finger back stamp that's normally only found on T206s!

The T206 isn't mine.

https://auctions.sacoriverauction.ne...10a_1p_lg.jpeg
https://auctions.sacoriverauction.ne...10a_2p_lg.jpeg
https://thegreatt206backstampproject...=1340472672523

I always liked that the 1964 Philadelphia Cleveland Browns (except Dick Schafrath) all posed in front of Jim Brown's Pink Cadillac. I wonder if he got it for selling Mary K products?

Found this card referenced on old blog a couple weeks ago (Bob Lemke's Blog).

Potentially, the 1952 Bowman Sam Mele features the first tattoo pictured on a baseball card? Since this is the current set I'm building, I thought it was kinda cool. Does anyone have a pre-1952 card depicting a tattoo that could prove this theory wrong?

Attachment 320260

No theory disproving here, but I instantly thought of this T218 boxing card of Dave Deshler with the sailing ship on his chest.

Brian

I bought this card on a whim while I was in Berlin last week. At the time I just thought it was cool to buy a card featuring Jesse Owens during the 1936 Olympics that was released in Berlin while I was in Berlin. But there is a lot more going on here:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1766/...160a60b408.jpg

The story behind the photo is that Luz Long, a German athlete, had gone well out of his way to befriend Jesse Owens during the Olympics in open defiance of Hitler. At this moment Long was giving Owens pointers on his long jump. Owens only had one more jump left to qualify for the finals and had fouled on his previous jumps. Jesse would go on to qualify on his next jump and eventually won Gold in the event, with Long finishing second.

During World War II Long served in the German air force and was shot down and killed over Italy, leaving his 2 children without a father. Owens never forgot about Luz though and the Long family never forgot about Owens. Years later Jesse Owens would serve as best man for Luz Long's son at his wedding.

I'll never get tired of looking at these cards. Three of my all-time favorites. I didn't appreciate any of them the way I did until I got them in hand and saw them up close.

Great card, even better story. That sounds like it could be a movie...


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It was. TV movie in 1984 focused pretty specifically on their relationship. Don't know how much they embellished it but supposedly the DQ's on his first two qualifying jumps were bogus, so Luz intentionally dropped a towel about a foot short of the mark so if Owens took off from the towel there would be no disputing it was a clean jump and Owens could clear the qualifying distance no problem, even giving up a foot.

Lucio, have you ever seen this old thread about Shoeless Joe being discovered (and proven to be) on the center panel of this T202 card?

If not, definitely check it out. Maybe one of the most fascinating threads ever on Net54 that didn't contain any drama. :cool:

Love it!

Thanks for the tip -gotta try and find it!


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A couple of the N154 Duke Sons Presidential Baseball subjects have somewhat more slender, graceful arms than one might expect from your average politician circa 1888. Possibly because some of those cards were made by pasting their faces into photos taken for the N48 women’s cards?

CW

You beat me to it.

I thought of posting this card when this thread first started. My guess is it's most likely Joe Jax in the centerfold sliding into 3rd base. His ears are the tell-tale clue.
And, the background is the Cleveland Stadium of that era.


http://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan7...nnehill50x.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan7...nehill50xb.jpg


TED Z

T206 Reference
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Great story!

Thanks for sharing it. :)

Luz Long and Owens had a long correspondence. Long's final, heartbreaking letter to Owens was written from Africa during WWII and reached Owens about a year after it was sent:

I am here, Jesse, where it seems there is only the dry sand and the wet blood. I do not fear so much for myself, my friend Jesse, I fear for my woman who is home, and my young son Kai, who has never really known his father.

My heart tells me, if I be honest with you, that this is the last letter I shall ever write. If it is so, I ask you something. It is a something so very important to me. It is you go to Germany when this war done, someday find my Kai, and tell him about his father. Tell him, Jesse, what times were like when we not separated by war. I am saying—tell him how things can be between men on this earth.

If you do this something for me, this thing that I need the most to know will be done, I do something for you, now. I tell you something I know you want to hear. And it is true.

That hour in Berlin when I first spoke to you, when you had your knee upon the ground, I knew that you were in prayer.

Then I not know how I know. Now I do. I know it is never by chance that we come together. I come to you that hour in 1936 for purpose more than der Berliner Olympiade.

And you, I believe, will read this letter, while it should not be possible to reach you ever, for purpose more even than our friendship.

I believe this shall come about because I think now that God will make it come about. This is what I have to tell you, Jesse.

I think I might believe in God.

And I pray to him that, even while it should not be possible for this to reach you ever, these words I write will still be read by you.

Your brother,

Luz

it was called League Park

Love the glove in back pocket .

Incredible! This is the best (and most heartbreaking) thing I have read in a long time!

X2.

Thanks for sharing it, Adam.

Awesome story packs and Adam!

Always been a cool pose, but I always took it that Benny was just boogying. Then I noticed another member comment that he thought that it looked like Benny was riding a motorcycle. Haven't looked at the card without thinking motorcycle since. Either way, Benny was a clown!

Attachment 320381

Stone looks stoned
https://photos.imageevent.com/rucker...size/stone.jpg

I never have understood why it was decided to show the back side of this player:

thanks for the Jesse Owens info, guys. Never heard that. Remarkable story.

shame the crease doesn't run the other way it would look like he's grabbing it!

Batting from the mound
 

Something that I hadn't noticed until recently is this Schapira card of Babe Ruth. Since this set was issued in 1921, he had already transitioned to a full-time outfielder and had a couple of great batting seasons under his belt. They decided to include this pitching pose in the set, but added a bat to make it seem like he was dropping the bat after a swing.

Brian

Ha, that is a great read. Very cool.

What does this kind of thing do for the demand/value of a card? I mean, I suppose it can only go up, but is there any notable example of this happening?

Ha, that’s quirky. Pretty clearly what you described is what happened here.

The only thing more clever than Schapira thinking of that is you for noticing.

Check out Old Hoss Radbourn's left hand...

There's got to be someone who's never seen this one.

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